Truss



June 2, 9 M. PORTNOW 2284 9156 TRUSS Filed Dec. 28,, 1940 INVENTOR. Moms FORM/0w.

Patented June 2, 1942 carts star's-s r TRUSS Moris Portnow, New York, -N. Y:

Application December 28, 1940}Scrial-No:-37-2;661

2 Claims.

This invention relates to mechanical appli ancestor the treatment of rupture or hernia, and more particularly to appliances commonly 'referred to as trusses as used by individuals'for the alleviation of rupture or hernia.

Broadly, the present invention has reference" the case of trusses now in common'use, this base' conditions.

A further aim of this invention 1ies in the provision ofa truss of this character, the pad or pads of which are mounted upon a pliable base'of novel construction, the base'having a thicker and a thinner cross-section to assure the maximum of comfort to the wearer under all positions of the body.

Afurther' feature of thepresent invention is the provision of a truss having a novel form of pad construction, which will prevent the pad from slipping, once it has been secured in its proper place.

A still further aim of the present invention resides in providing a truss of this character with a novel strap construction for retaining it about the body of the user, to the end that, in its application the patient may find the maximum of comfort under all body positions.

Yet another advantage of the present invention lies in the provision of a truss of this character,

the several parts of which are so constructed as drawing, formingamaterial' component of this disclosure; and in which:

Figure 1 'is a view of an embodiment of'the invention, applied to the "body of a person.

Figure 2 is a frontelevational view, 'partsbeing broken away.

Figure 3 is a rear "elevational view 'of the device,'sl1owing one form of pad "and parts 01' the retaining straps.

Figure 4 is .a sectional View, the: section" being takenon line '4- -4 of Figure'2.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing, the

numeral Hi designates'in-general' a plate or base of pliable material such as rubber, upon which are mounted a pair of spaced cushion pads'll and [2. The construction of the plate or base H) is such that, throughout itslength, the upper portion I3, comprising substantially one-half of the area of the plate, is thinner in cross-section, than the lower part it. At the limit of the area of greater thickness and the beginning of the area of lesser thickness there is formed a line of demarcation l5.

Riveted as at 25 or otherwise secured to the outer face of the upper and lower portions of plate I!) are hook members It and iii.

For retaining the device around the body of a wearer, there is provided a strap l1 preferably made of elastic material.

The ends 2il 2ll of elastic member or strap ll have removably. attached thereto a. pair of buckle members 22-22 having a central bar upon which a plurality. of toothed prongs are movably mounted, each of the buckle members having one end thereof formed into substantially rectangularloops [9 which, whenthe'device is in operative position, engage the hook members I6.

There also is provided a lower strap of suitable inelastic fabric, designated in the drawing by the numeral H8, the ends of which being provided with a pair of buckle members 22 and,

22 of like construction as the buckle members above described. Slidably mounted on the lower strap [8 are a pair of loops 23, the lower ends of which are provided with buckle members 23. Secured between pads H and I2 and hook members l6 and I6 respectively are a pair of vertical leg straps 24 of inelastic fabric, which are retained in position by screws 26.

In operation, when it is desired to apply the truss illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the drawing to the body. of a person the plate and pads attached thereto are positioned over the part of the body which is desired to be,pro-

tected, causing the permanently attached leg straps 2A to assume their normal, downreaching position. One of the loops of a buckle of strap I1 is hooked onto hook member [9, and the belt is then secured about the body by engaging the other loop with hook member l6. Prior thereto the belt may be adjusted as to size in the conventional manner, by removing one of the buckles and securing it closer to or farther away from one of the ends, depending upon whether the belt is to be shortened or made longer.

One of the loops of the buckle of inelastic strap I8 is then hooked onto one of the lower hook members and, after an obvious adjustment as to 7 size has been made, the other loop is hooked onto the other book member. The leg straps 24 are then taken up between the legs and secured in the rear to buckles 23' in such manner as to produce a snug fit.

When the pad structure illustrated in Figure 5 is employed instead of that shown in Figure 4, it will be apparent that pressure of cushion pad l2a against the rupture will force the pad inwardly of rim lZb, thus bringing the outerface of the rim into contact with the body of the user. Since that part of the rim which is intended to contact the body is not attached to the pad by cement or otherwise, but is retained about the pad by nature of the complementing contours of pad and rim, the rim will form a pocket when the pad is pressed inwardly, causing the pad to be retained firmly in its adjusted position, yet with the utmost comfort for the user.

It will be seen that there has been presented a truss, constructed for efficiency as well as for comfort in an position which the wearers body may assume. Towards that end, the conventional metal plate has been eliminated, and in its stead a rubber plate H3 has been constructed in such manner, as to allow a certain amount of pliability without thereby sacrificing the eifectiveness of the device. As will be seen in the drawing, plate in is not square in cross-section, but its upper and lower horizontal edges are curved inwardly to permit a freer movement of the abdomen above and below the area covered by the truss.

The construction of the straps too, tends to Thus it will be seen that I have illustrated and described the best known embodiment of my invention, but it is to be understood that this disclosure is intended to be illustrative and descriptive thereof, and not restrictive or limitative to the exact construction shown, since I reserve for myself the right to make minor changes in the construction of the truss within the scope of the appended claims, without departure from the spirit of this invention,

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A truss comprising a pliable plate, a pair of cushion pads secured thereto, said plate comprising an upper longitudinal area and a lower longitudinal area, both of said areas being of substantially equal size, said upper area being thinner than said lower area, a line of demarcation throughout the length of said plate at the juncture of said area of greater thickness and said area of lesser thickness, a pair of hook members riveted to said upper area, a pair of hook members riveted to said lower area, a pair of leg straps retained by said last named hook members, an elastic strap having buckles at each end, said buckles being formed with loops for engagement with said first named hook members, an inelastic strap having a buckle at each end, said buckles formed into loops for engagement with said last named hook members, slidable means on said inelastic strap for removably retaining said leg straps in operative position, and means for adjusting said elastic and inelastic straps around the body.

2. A truss comprising a pliable plate, a cushion pad secured thereto, said plate divided horizontally into an upper part and a, lower part of substantially equal size, said lower ,part being thicker in cross-section than said upper part, a horizontal line of demarcation throughout the length of said plate at the juncture of said parts, a pair of book members riveted to said upper part, a pair of hook members riveted to said lower part, a pair of leg straps retained by said last named hook members, an elastic strap having buckles at each end, said buckles formed with means for engagement with said first named hook members, an inelastic strap having a buckle at each end, said buckles formed with means for engagement with said last named hook members, means on said inelastic strap for removably retaining said leg straps in operative position, and means for adjusting said elastic and inelastic straps around the body.

MORIS PORTNOW. 

